It was dark. LuLu made this observation with decided firmness when she awoke. As such, she deduced that she would surely run into something if she tried to walk around just yet, so she sat up from her slouched position and waited for her eyes to adjust.
She couldn't quite recall where she was, but she had a rushed, panicky feeling that she should go somewhere, anywhere but where she was now…wherever that was… She knew that she was sitting in a chair, at a table (on which her head had been resting), but beyond that, she had no knowledge of her whereabouts.
"Oh!" she sighed, almost laughing with relief as she caught sight of the dim outline of the bar to her right. She was in the speakeasy, of course! But her smile faded as her memory began to return. Last she could remember, she had been outside.
How did I get back in, though? she asked herself, cocking her head lightly to the side. Did someone bring me in here, or…
She stood uncertainly and looked around at the shadows of tables and chairs. With a start, she realized-
"It's all wrong…!" she said aloud. The stage was on the opposite wall, the bar should have been further towards the door, the tables were set up in a strange fashion…She wasn't at the speakeasy. Suddenly, she gasped and fell back into her chair. The memories from earlier that night flooded back into her petrified mind. The back alley! The body! The two men! The-
"The gun…" she breathed, her eyes wide and her mouth slack. "…They shot me…"
With a horrid realization, LuLu's hand shot up to her chest, but instead of feeling smooth skin, her finger sank into a cold, gooey hole.
LuLu let out a piercing shriek, stumbling forwards, her arms flailing wildly as she scrambled for the door. Her stockings and dress caught on rough corners, ripping unruly holes in them. When she reached the door, her screams had become loud, wailing sobs. Tears streaming down her face, she desperately clung to the doorknob, staggering as the door swung open. Her legs gave out beneath her and she fell to the ground, still sobbing loudly. As she reached up to clear her blurred vision, she caught sight of her hands. Upon seeing the blue-gray skin that covered them, she shrieked again with renewed vigor.
"Excuse me, madam!" a gentleman's voice said loudly behind her. She spun around to see a tall, respectable looking man whose skin was also that strange shade. He had on a long, dusty nightgown. LuLu's screams stopped abruptly, but her face still held a look reminiscent of a frightened deer.
"You seem quite distressed," the man continued, "But allow me to remind you that people are trying to sleep around here!"
LuLu gave him a troubled blink, but said nothing.
"What's all the bloomin' noise about, Mr. McBurkley?" a woman said irritably from behind him. She was stout, with coarse black hair that stuck out at all angles.
To LuLu's horror, Mr. McBurkley looked back at the woman…with only half his head! Half of his face stared straight at LuLu, while the other twisted around behind him. LuLu, yet again, let out another blood-curdling cry, scooting herself backwards from the half-and-half man.
"I don't know what's wrong with her, Ms. Plum!" both sides of the head exclaimed. "She just starts yelling like that at strange intervals!"
The woman called Ms. Plum rushed forward with surprising speed. LuLu had once again given way to sobs. Looking the girl sternly in the face, Ms. Plum's features suddenly went soft.
"Well no wonder!" the woman said sympathetically, "The poor girl's new! She doesn't know what to think!"
She wrapped her arms around LuLu and led her gently back towards the pub. "Poor dear! Imagine! Having to come here in the middle of the night, it's no way to go!"
She turned back to Mr. McBurkley. "Go back to sleep, sir, nothing to worry about. A cup of warm cider and she'll be right as rain!"
"Y'know, dear," Ms. Plum said pleasantly as she heated the cider over a stove, "You look familiar to me. Do you s'pose we met in a past life?"
LuLu shook her head, her eyes still wide with shock. Ms. Plum gave her a sidelong glance and tsked.
"Poor dear," she said, pouring the steaming drink into a thick mug. She handed it to the girl. "You certainly went before your time. It's no way to go, I say, no way to go!"
"Ms. Plum…?" LuLu said quietly.
"Yes, dear, what is it?"
"Do…do all dead people come here…?"
"As far as I know. Why, dear? Are you looking for someone?"
LuLu ignored the question. "So…bad people don't go to one place and the good ones to another…?"
Ms. Plum chuckled softly and patted LuLu's shoulder. "I'm afraid not, dear. Death is actually quite similar to life. You have to deal with all the same ninnies you did while you were alive. But don't worry," she added quickly, "It's not all bad, I promise."
A ghost of a smile graced LuLu's lips before she took a sip of cider. Ms. Plum leaned on the bar, cleaning glasses with a grubby towel and humming a light tune under her breath.
Finally, LuLu got her courage up. Placing the mug decidedly on the counter she cleared her throat. Ms. Plum looked up expectantly.
"I…am looking for someone, actually," she said, biting her lip, "Bojangles? Bojangles Johnson?"
Ms. Plum blinked with a start. "LuLu!" she said aloud.
"How did you-"
"Bonejangles showed me a picture of you! I knew you looked familiar!"
"He's here?" LuLu asked excitedly, not noticing the apparent name change that Bojangles had gone through.
"Yes, he and his band play here quite regularly," Ms. Plum said before her motherly side took over. "But you should wait until morning to see him. Not only do you need some rest, but…well, sometimes people go through-" she struggled to find the right words- "startling changes when they're dead…He won't look quite like you remember."
"I don't care!" LuLu said, "I have to see him!"
"Tomorrow," Ms. Plum said sternly. "Now, you come with me, dear. There's a spare apartment in the building I live in, and I'm sure no one would mind if you used it tonight."
LuLu followed closely at Ms. Plum's heels, only half hearing the woman's voice as she explained a few peculiarities of the apartment.
"…quite talkative, those cockroaches are! If they bother you, just hit them with a shoe, they'll get the point…"
LuLu sighed inaudibly. How could she even think about sleeping? She was so close to finding Bojangles again! So close, and yet…so far.
glad to be back, folks!